R & V & Castlevania
by DarkFonist
Summary: A mysterious man in a pitch black suit comes to Youkai Academy. What could he want Tsukune for? Please excuse the pitiful title. Probably a oneshot. -Don't bother with chapter 1, the second is revised and much better.-
1. Original Version

"Do you have any recommendations?" A man wearing black suit asked as he stood before the desk of the Headmaster. His hair was tied back in a slight ponytail, and he was pale enough to be thought ill had he not been standing.

From behind the desk, the Headmaster grinned and clasped his hands together. "I do have a few in mind…"

* * *

Tsukune's day had gone as usual so far. Usual, of course, meaning being "attacked" and fought over by all the girls that followed him around before he got to homeroom. At least there was no History class today; he'd never done spectacularly in school but learning history from a completely different perspective didn't help him keep up his grades.

Nekonome was as energetic as ever, something that Tsukune was thankful for. Having gloomy teachers was never fun.

As if on cue to his thoughts, a man wearing a black business suit stepped into the classroom just as class was about to begin.

"The Headmaster and I need to speak with Aono Tsukune," he said, addressing Nekonome.

_Huh?_ Tsukune thought, surprised. _Why would the Headmaster need to see me…?_

"Tsukune…?" He heard Moka say his name behind him, doubtlessly echoing his own question. He shrugged slightly, showing he was unsure himself, and walked to the front of the class.

The man beckoned him out of the classroom, and they began heading towards the Headmaster's office. From the back, the man was completely black; he wore a formal-looking black suit and pants, and similarly colored leather shoes that clicked with each step on the tile floors. The man's black hair was just shoulder-length, covering up any of his skin you might have been able to see.

"Um, sir…?" Tsukune started, looking up at the man. He did not respond, but turned slightly to show he was listening. "Do you know what the Headmaster wants?"

The man turned back to looking ahead and replied, "I will explain once we are there." His voice was…calm, emotionless, for lack of any better terms. It had a professional sound to it, matching his appearance.

Tsukune gulped, choosing not to push the issue. "Yes, sir."

"Arikado," the man supplied. "Arikado Genya."

The rest of the walk was a silent one. Arikado did not speak, and Tsukune didn't really want to ask any more questions.

The twin doors to the Headmaster's office soon loomed before them, and Arikado pushed them open, stepping into the dark study. Tsukune expected to see the Headmaster sitting behind his desk, grinning his eerie grin, but interesting (and perhaps disturbingly) the chair was empty. A glow was coming from the corner of the room, where a portal Tsukune recognized lay.

_That's the portal the Headmaster made before…to Paradise._ He thought to himself. _What's going on…?_

"Follow me," said Arikado, not hesitating at all. He stepped into the portal and Tsukune nervously followed, becoming less certain of Arikado's plans by the moment. He had said that the Headmaster wanted to see him, but why would he be in Paradise instead of his office?

Arikado turned to face Tsukune as he stepped further into Paradise, and looked questioningly up at him. Arikado's eyes were closed with concentration.

There was a flash, and Tsukune realized why too late; Arikado had closed the portal behind them! What was he doing? Did Arikado or the Headmaster have some sort of plan they needed him for?

These questions and others went through Tsukune's head as he followed Arikado, who had resumed moving purposefully along the grassy hills. Tsukune glanced backwards, but couldn't see the portal they had entered from. Gulping nervously, he turned again to see they were approaching a small house in the middle of the field.

Outside, lounging in a chair was a white-haired youth who looked to be around Tsukune's age. He was wearing a white coat with fur lining the collar, which contrasted with the black shirt and blue jeans he wore under it. As Tsukune and Arikado approached, he looked up.

"Hey Arikado, you're back." His gaze shifted to Tsukune. "Is this Tsukune?"

"Yes," Arikado said simply before walking up to the side of the building and crossing his arms, leaving Tsukune standing oddly in front of the two. As Tsukune considered what to do, the white-haired boy got up and walked up to him.

"I'm Kurusu Soma. Nice to meet you." He bowed politely to Tsukune, who nervously returned the greeting before he turned to face Arikado.

"Um, Arikado…" Arikado looked up. "Is the Headmaster coming…?" Tsukune asked.

Arikado looked down again for a moment before replying, "No, he is not."

Tsukune's eyes widened in surprise slightly before he asked the obvious question: "Then what's going on?"

"Well, it's simple. We're going to take over this school," Soma said. Arikado looked at him with narrowed eyes, but added nothing.

Tsukune didn't have any immediate response to this, and was quite unsure how he should respond. Should he run and try to get help, or stay and possibly hinder them in some other way? He didn't think he could fight both of them at once, and didn't really want to try regardless.

As Tsukune stood there looking surprised, Soma resumed sitting in his chair and cast a glance at Arikado, who did not return it.

"Why would you want to do that?" Tsukune asked finally, trying to understand their motivation. After all, don't people who are trying to take over usually either sneak in quietly or boldly announce their presence and intent to everyone, right? These two had done neither, simply taking Tsukune and possibly the Headmaster as well.

The thought made Tsukune shiver. If Arikado and Soma were powerful enough to defeat the Headmaster, what could anyone else hope to do?

Soma opened his mouth as if to respond to Tsukune's question, but Arikado started talking first. "You don't need to know our reasons." Tsukune thought for a moment again, trying to figure out what he should do.

"Why me?" he asked, shifting his gaze between the two. "Why am I so important?"

Arikado looked up at him, looking impatient if anything. "There is no reason for me to tell you that." It seemed that Arikado was wary of giving him any details about their plan, which gave Tsukune only a few options: fight them, try to escape, or wait quietly. As for the first two, Tsukune had little confidence in his own ability, especially when taking on two opponents, and trying to escape would probably just provoke them.

Resigning himself, Tsukune sat down in the grass, simply waiting for whatever Arikado and Soma were waiting for. He wondered what it could be; he knew that Moka and the others would come for him eventually, which left him to hope they would make it before Arikado and Soma's plans could progress any further.

Surprisingly, Tsukune did not have to wait long, because within a few minutes at most, Moka, Kurumu, and Mizore came marching across the grassy plains towards him. Tsukune did not see Yukari or Ruby with them; he wondered if they had to open a portal into Paradise for the others.

Standing quickly, Tsukune noticed Kurumu was carrying the magic whip Belmont. That at least gave him some relief; he wouldn't need to find a way to remove Moka's rosary in the inevitable fight.

As his friends approached closely, Moka shouted to him, "Tsukune!"

"Moka!" he shouted back, starting forward but Arikado was at his side, his arm in front of Tsukune. Of course he wasn't simply going to let Tsukune reunite with them.

"So it is you," said Arikado as the group stopped a distance in front, not yet making a move to attack.

"Let Tsukune go now!" Kurumu demanded, gripping the whip tightly in both hands.

"Or we'll make you regret it," added Mizore, her typical calm voice hiding the reality of the threat.

"So eager to fight…" remarked Arikado, speaking as if he had nothing to worry about. "So be it."

"As much I'd like to take you idiots out myself," Kurumu said, glaring at Soma and Arikado, "It wouldn't be the same fighting without Moka." The succubus held the whip out to Moka, and the two nodded at each other.

The pink-haired girl took the whip in her hand, and the ensuing flash of energy blinded Tsukune. He held his arms up in front of his eyes and steadied himself against the artificial wind that accompanied Moka's transformation.

When the dust cleared, Tsukune looked up and saw silver-haired Inner Moka with the whip tied around her leg, staring coldly and Arikado and Soma.

Tsukune heard Soma mutter something to Arikado, who replied by telling him to 'remember.' Unfortunately he couldn't make out exactly what they were saying, though they didn't seem surprised by Inner Moka's appearance at all. This worried him. How much did they know?

"You've lost your chance to give up," Moka said to Tsukune's captors, her icy voice carrying as much venom as her equally cold stare.

Arikado turned to Soma. "Take the succubus and the Snow Maiden. I'll handle the vampire." Soma nodded his assent and the two stepped apart, giving each other some space to fight in, but not so much as to make Tsukune think he could dash to safety.

"He shouldn't be a problem," said Mizore as she looked over Soma. "Two on one hardly seems fair."

"Kidnapping Tsukune isn't fair!" retorted Kurumu as she extended her claws and pulled out her wings, speeding towards Soma. He rolled away at the last second, and threw a spear at the succubus, who managed to swerve to avoid it.

_Wait, a spear?_ Tsukune thought to himself, surprised. _Where did he…?_

Immediately after, Mizore threw a set of ice kunai toward the white-cloaked boy. Before they could hit, a cloak of tumbling fire flared up, melting them instantly.

Meanwhile, Arikado and Moka were facing each other on Tsukune's other side.

"Hmph. You think you can think you can fight me alone, _half-breed_?" Moka said to Arikado. Tsukune gasped inwardly at this; Arikado was a half-vampire? Before anything else could be said, she leapt towards Arikado, presumably intending to end the fight in one blow. "Know your place!"

Moka's signature kick connected with Arikado's head, and he was sent flying backwards, crashing through the wall of the building behind Tsukune. He turned and stared at the hole in the wall, wondering if Moka had really just taken out Arikado that easily.

"Hmph. You overestimate your strength," said Moka condescendingly as she landed on the grass.

Mizore, who had been staying out of melee range of Soma, commented, "I guess we should have expected as much from Moka."

Any further praise was interrupted by Arikado stepping calmly out of the rubble, his suit dusty but otherwise barely worse for the wear. His appearance caused even Moka to gasp slightly; few, if any, had been able to take Inner Moka's kick head-on and stand up afterward.

"Shall we?" Arikado said simply, before drawing his arm backwards. A red aura flared to life around him. He thrust him arm out, and with a shout of, "Hellfire!" a trio of yellow fireballs sprung forth, heading directly for Moka.

Moka evaded them easily, but in that time Arikado had closed the distance between them and was preparing his own kick attack, aimed toward her midsection. The vampire dodged backwards, avoiding the blow and moving to counter with a knife-hand strike at Arikado's throat.

Arikado, however, saw the attack coming and leaned out of the way, moving quickly to grab Moka's arm and use her momentum to throw her past him, exposing her back. Thinking quickly, Moka planted her front foot into the ground and used her youki to reverse her velocity, spinning and trying to deliver a chop to Arikado's before he could attack himself.

Arikado quickly set himself in a high guard, taking the blow to his forearm, the force of the attack sending him skidding back several feet.

On the other side of the field, Soma launched several fireballs towards Mizore and Kurumu as he backed up, creating space between himself and the two girls. Before he could move too far away, however, Mizore put her hands to the ground, forming a large ice wall behind and to the sides of him.

"Now!" Mizore shouted to Kurumu, who began dashing towards Soma. He might have been able to climb over the walls, had he had time, but considering the circumstances, that wasn't really an option.

Kurumu was closing the distance quickly, but Soma simply smirked and produced a human-sized puppet from a puff of smoke. Kurumu paused for a fraction of a second, but continued on full-speed, not seeing what he could hope to accomplish with a puppet in the remaining seconds before she reached him.

Tossing the puppet cleanly over the wall, Soma continued smiled in a gratingly confident as he stared at the charging succubus.

"You. Are. Dead!" Kurumu emphasized each word as she pulled back her arm, about to wipe the smirk off his face with a stab to the chest. Thrusting forward, she felt her claws pierce through him and collide with the ice behind him. Her triumphant feeling was cut short as she realized she had stabbed nothing but a puppet; the same puppet that Soma had been holding earlier. It vanished in a purple puff of smoke, and she turned to see Soma standing on the other side of the ice wall.

"That was close," he sighed, which only served to anger the succubus further. Mizore removed the ice wall and Kurumu immediately charged the white-clad boy, who barely managed to duck her swipe before sliding back out of range to avoid another.

As Kurumu stepped forward quickly to attack again, Soma brought his arms up to defend himself. Knowing her claws would make quick work of the white tailcoat he was wearing, she did not even bother to stop her attack. Surprisingly, however, just as the attack connected with Soma, a gray haze surrounded the point of impact, preventing it from actually hitting him. The force, however, did impact him, and he was sent flying backwards, nearly hitting Arikado, who was preparing a spell.

Mizore summoned a created a small group of icicles in the air, and with a flick of her wrist sent them spiraling towards Soma.

Kurumu, on the other hand, decided Arikado was a better target and rushed towards him, but was met halfway, surprisingly, by Moka.

"He is _mine_," growled Moka as she stared at the succubus, who didn't want to back down but didn't think she could win if she tried to attack the vampire.

"Nice teamwork," commented Mizore with deadpan sarcasm as she moved up beside Kurumu.

"Indeed," agreed Soma as he stepped up beside Arikado, watching the vampire and the succubus. Arikado had stopped his spell, presumably waiting to see what would happen.

Moka turned to face her white and black-clad opponents. "You must have a death wish," she said menacingly, "To insult _me_." The vampire planted her feet and prepared to rush the two of them. Kurumu grudgingly prepared as well, as did Mizore.

Just as the three of them began their charge, Arikado looked to his partner. "Soma!"

"All right, let's do this!" Soma shouted in reply, and together the two of them began gathering energy. Red, fiery auras surrounded the two of them and a spell glyph colored the grass at their feet.

Tsukune, who had since been watching from the relative security of around the nearby building's corner, saw the obvious trap that Arikado and Soma were preparing.

"Moka, Kurumu, Mizore! Look out!" Tsukune shouted as loud as he could, but it was too late. His warning went unheeded as the girls were too far into their charge to care for dodging.

Once their three opponents were within several feet, both Arikado and Soma shouted loudly, "DEMONIC MEGIDDO!"

The resulting fiery explosion of energy nearly knocked Tsukune off his feet, forcing him to hold his arms in front of his face to shield it from the powerful wind. When the wind finally ceased, Tsukune let his arms fall to his sides, staring ahead towards the now-shrinking sphere of energy.

He started forward, his concern for his friends now overriding his care for his own safety.

"Moka! Kurumu! Mizore!" Tsukune shouted as he hurried forward into the cloud of smoke. The area hit by the attack had completely destroyed the grass, burning it to nothing and charred the ground.

The smoke cleared, and Tsukune was immensely relieved, though still worried, to see his friends battered, but still alive.

Only Moka still stood, but it was clear the attack had injured her. Both Kurumu and Mizore were on their knees, breathing heavily and clutching their own wounds. On the side, Soma, too, was on his knees, though from exhaustion rather than any injury. Arikado stood straight, his hair and suit slightly disheveled but he looked otherwise fine.

"Stay back!" Moka commanded Tsukune, who stopped despite himself.

"You're hurt!" he shouted back, not understanding how she could expect him to just stay where he was. Arikado stepped forward, and Tsukune decided that enough was enough. He ran for the space between the two groups, facing Arikado, who stopped to look at him. Tsukune positioned himself firmly between the two.

"No more! If you want to keep fighting, fight…" Tsukune paused, hesitant, but only for a moment. "Fight me!" It was clear he was resolute.

"Tsukune?" Three startled cries came from behind him. Grimly, Tsukune considered how funny it was that they didn't expect this from him.

There was a long silence as no one did anything; not even Moka or Arikado.

"Heh." Soma chuckled as he rose to his standing position. Arikado looked off into the distance as if considering something, before he turned back to Tsukune.

"Very well." This confused Tsukune. What did Arikado mean? "I've seen enough."

At this, a very familiar creepy laugh sounded behind the group. The four turned to face it, and were surprised to see the Headmaster standing before them.

"What do you think, Arikado?" The Headmaster asked, grinning, as he always did, at the dhampir.

"I would like to keep my evaluations private for now," Arikado replied simply. The Headmaster merely chuckled again. Tsukune, at this point, was stunned into silence as to what was going on. It seemed that the Headmaster was at least acquainted with Arikado and probably Soma as well.

Moka, on the other hand, was not silent at all. "Explain," she demanded, sounding (at least to Tsukune) forceful despite her wounds.

The Headmaster looked to Arikado, who took this as meaning the Headmaster wasn't going to.

"I am Arikado Genya," he began, looking directly at Tsukune and the others. "I work for the Japanese government researching…paranormal activity." He seemed to have been considering how to describe his work. "Kurusu Soma," he gestured to Soma, "is a colleague, of sorts." Soma rolled his eyes at that remark, and Tsukune wondered exactly what the pair's relationship was.

"Put simply, I was here to evaluate possible candidates to be invited to join in the future." Arikado's gaze passed over each of them in turn.

"That is putting it simply," said Mizore, noting how vague Arikado's explanation managed to be.

"And that's probably the most words I've ever heard you string together in a row," added Soma with a smirk, his hands now held behind his head in a relaxed position. Only the Headmaster and Soma chuckled at that.

"So you're saying this was all just a **waste of time**?" Moka asked, looking rather angry. "Of all the…" The vampire started to walk off before realizing that walking off didn't exactly work in Paradise. There was another convenient option for her, however. She reached down to the whip still tied to her leg and began tugging at it…to no avail.

Several seconds passed before she shouted, frustrated, "Tsukune! Get over here and help me!" It took Tsukune a few seconds to realize she was asking for his help in removing the whip. When he did, he blushed very obviously.

"Wh-what? I can't do that…!" he stammered. It's a pity Gin was not around; he probably would have _volunteered_.

"You can, and you will!" Moka said, turning to face the boy. "_Now_." Tsukune, seeing no other choice, slowly made his way to the vampire.

Soma and the Headmaster were grinning very widely at this turn of events, while Arikado simply shook his head slowly, his hand up against it in exasperation.

Tsukune gingerly grabbed at the knot in the whip, trying pull it apart while avoiding actually touching Moka. Eventually, he was able to untie it and he sighed with relief as it fell to the ground.

Unfortunately, he forgot that Moka's transformation back to her sealed self tended to be followed by unconsciousness, and was knocked to the ground when the now pink-haired girl collapsed on top of him. Needless to say, about half of the witnesses to the event were very amused, the other half were jealous, and the odd one out was just sitting there pretending it wasn't happening.

Before Tsukune could scramble out from under her, Moka's eyes fluttered open and she stared distantly at him. "Tsu…ku…ne…?" Each syllable of his name fell off her tongue dreamily.

"M-Moka, I…!" Before Tsukune could get very far saying whatever he planned to say, he received a bite to the neck, silencing him.

"Didn't expect that…" mumbled Soma as he continued to watch the scene unfold. "Do vampires not kiss the people they like, or what, Arikado?" Soma turned to look at the man beside him, only to realize he wasn't there.

"Um, Arikado…?" Soma looked left and right, but saw no trace of either the Headmaster or Arikado anywhere. They had apparently just vanished while everyone was distracted. Realizing this, Soma looked at the girls and Tsukune and decided he ought to make his escape as well. Picking a random direction and hoping that it was right, he was off with a whisper of "Black Panther."

* * *

_I wrote this originally wanting to do a Moka vs. __Alucard__ Arikado fight, but it eventually derailed into (sort of) having a plot. Soma was not originally going to be in, but I decided I should have someone to fight the others instead of having them just watch Moka deal with Arikado. I also planned possibly having Arikado use a weapon but as I was writing it I didn't really see any convenient way to introduce it._

_I didn't include Yukari mainly because I suck and didn't want to write anymore dialogue or people fighting. I even came up with a silly plot point to rationalize it. The post-battle scenes just sort of happened as I was finishing up the story._

_I considered having some sort of explanation of what Soma and Arikado's abilities (specifically how Soma could fight, since he isn't a Youkai) were, but I didn't really see any opportune moment. I suppose I could have added some in-battle conversation about how he seemed human or something, but I'll leave it without for now._

_I don't think it turned out perfectly, so I might edit it to fix details or add some other things in at some point, but that probably won't happen. _-.-;

_Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review; I'd like comments on what I could improve on, but even just a simple review saying that "it was good" or "I didn't particularly like X" is definitely welcome. I wonder if I'll ever like the endings for any of my stories…I'd love to hear your thoughts on my current "sudden" ending or any other possibilities if you're willing._


	2. Revised Version

A man wearing a black suit stood before the door to the Headmaster's office. His appearance seemed to be that of a businessman; and a very organized one at that. At his side stood a younger man who looked to be in his teens; his white tailcoat and hair contrasting sharply with the black outfit of the other.

The suited man pushed open the doors easily, and stepped inside to the dimly lit room glancing around for just a moment before setting his gaze on the purple-clad man behind the desk.

"Ah, Arikado," Youkai Academy's Headmaster greeting came low and ominous. "This is Soma, I assume?"

The white-haired boy nodded, feeling at least a bit apprehensive about the Headmaster's style of speech. Just hearing him talk felt rather disconcerting, even when he was just offering a greeting.

Arikado, of course, was not put off by that at all. "As I said, I am here to simply look for recruits. Do you have any recommendations?" Straight to the point, as always.

From behind the desk, the Headmaster grinned and clasped his hands together. "I do have a few in mind…" He slid open a door on his desk and produced a small folder containing some documents. Placing them on the desk, he leaned back in his chair.

Arikado took the folder and flipped it open; it seemed to be a collection of student profiles. Soma took his side and looked in at the information.

The first on the stack was Kurono Kurumu, a succubus. Soma blinked and tried to ignore the apprehension he felt. Arikado had explained the purpose of the academy to him, but it was still hard to look at the Youkai as, well, human beings, so to speak, whether they were in an evil castle or not.

Arikado turned to the next page, revealing a Snow Maiden by the name of Shirayuki Mizore. He scanned the page, and Soma almost admired his analytical abilities before deciding that they were probably the result of his being with work.

Arikado slid the current profile aside, and looked to the next. What was there almost made Soma gasp in surprise. Akashiya Moka, a female vampire. Soma knew he shouldn't be so worried, but it was pretty difficult for him to not associate what happened in castle with vampires. He paused for a moment, and then berated himself for being so stupid. Arikado himself was a half-vampire!

_Being a Youkai alone isn't evil. _Soma thought to himself, trying to clear away his doubt. _The existence of this school is proof enough of that._

The next profile was Aono Tsukune. Reading the information on the sheet, even Arikado's eyes widened when he noticed that he was recorded as being a human.

Arikado looked to the Headmaster, who had been silent this entire time, for a response.

"A human, is that what you're thinking?" The Headmaster simply smiled as he asked this to the pair. "There is a bit of a story to it. I assume you'd like to hear it?"

"Please," said Arikado, though his voice was still flat, as if he had better things to do.

As the Headmaster spoke of Tsukune's…"adventures," if you could call them that, at the Academy, Soma could not help but be amazed. As crazy as it sounded, it _did_ fit in with the notes on the profiles.

"I do not know," Arikado said, thinking. "He is the only one I must object about. If simply using his power could eventually cost him his humanity…"

"I understand your concern," the Headmaster replied, "but I did not suggest him idly. The bond between them," he gestured to the documents Arikado still held, "is something stronger than simple battle prowess."

Soma could understand that. As he went to confront the chaotic power at the center of Dracula's castle in the eclipse, and by extension, the power within himself, he had thought he was alone. But he was not. By Arikado's power, he was able to speak with his friends for but a moment, but it was enough. He believed firmly that had he not felt he had them behind him, he would have succumbed to the dark power within him.

"Besides," the Headmaster began, his smile growing wider, "he is one of the few who can remove Akashiya's seal." There was a silence as Arikado considered the matter.

"Very well. But I will only be testing them. There is no guarantee that they will have the potential for what I intend."

"Of course," said the Headmaster.

"Wait," Soma interrupted, "Are we going to fight them?"

"Yes." Arikado said simply, not even looking at Soma as he responded. Soma considered objecting, but then realized that Arikado was probably not going to change his mind. He wondered why Arikado had even asked him along in the first place. Did he really just need his help in a fight? Soma sighed and resigned himself to Arikado's plan.

"Well," he started, looking up at the two others. "How are we going get them to fight with us?" He hoped the answer was not 'pick a fight with them.' His question was rewarded with a chuckle from the Headmaster.

"Worry not about that, I already have a plan."

Arikado raised his eyebrow in a rare display of emotion. Perhaps he was worried about what sort of "plan" someone like the Headmaster could have thought up.

"Go to Aono's classroom and escort him here. I'll prepare a portal leading to Paradise where you can fight without causing any damage to the school itself. The others will naturally come to his aid, and so long as you keep your true purpose hidden, you can easily convince them to fight."

"But what of Akashiya's seal? We could not allow Aono to remove it without allowing him to go to her. And to do so would lead them to suspect our motives."

"That's taken care of," said the Headmaster, producing a very familiar looking whip from underneath his desk.

"The Vampire Killer!" Soma exclaimed in surprise. "Why is it…?" His shout turned to mumbling. "How could Julius have meant _here_, of all places, as a 'safe place' for it…?"

"He has his reasons," assured the Headmaster. "I'm sure you are aware of its power against Youkai." Soma nodded. He had actually felt it himself when Julius had attacked him during the events in eclipse.

"So they would use the whip's power over seals to temporarily release the seal on Akashiya's power, then?" Arikado asked.

"Indeed," replied the Headmaster. "Now to ensure that the story holds, I will be in Paradise as well, out of sight. This will ensure Aono is suspicious of you. I will see to it that my assistant gives them the whip."

Soma thought for a moment on what the Headmaster had said. It was a complicated, perhaps overly so, but he couldn't find any flaws. The only thing that could go wrong was if the girls and Tsukune managed to somehow communicate the differences between what had happened; if they told Tsukune the Headmaster had given them the whip, the story would fall apart. They would have Tsukune, however, so he admitted it was probably unlikely they would chat about what happened before a battle.

"What about their entrance to Paradise?" Arikado asked. "It would look rather sloppy for us to simply leave it there if we truly intended to kidnap Aono."

"Perhaps so," mused the Headmaster. "Close the portal after you enter. I'll make sure there are enough materials for them to open it themselves and inform my assistant to help them do so."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to help them out so much? If Tsukune thinks we…did something with you, and you are actively helping the others, couldn't that be a problem?" Soma decided he should state what he thought. "They probably won't mention something like that, but…"

"I think the story will hold long enough," said Arikado. "Pushing them into a fight will probably not be that difficult, and though Aono may make a connection in regards to the Vampire Killer, it will be too late for him to do anything."

Soma nodded, hoping as much himself. He was a bit uneasy about how they were going to basically kidnap Tsukune, but he reassured himself that they weren't actually going to do anything to him.

"Soma," Arikado said as he turned to white-haired boy. "I will worry about Aono. Accompany the Headmaster into Paradise and wait for me."

* * *

Tsukune's day had gone as usual so far. Usual, of course, meaning being "attacked" and fought over by all the girls that followed him around before he got to homeroom. At least there was no History class today; he'd never done spectacularly in school but learning history from a completely different perspective didn't help him keep up his grades.

Nekonome was as energetic as ever, something that Tsukune was thankful for. Having gloomy teachers was never fun.

As if on cue to his thoughts, a man wearing a black business suit stepped into the classroom just as class was about to begin.

"The Headmaster and I need to speak with Aono Tsukune," he said, addressing Nekonome.

_Huh?_ Tsukune thought, surprised. _Why would the Headmaster need to see me…?_

"Tsukune…?" He heard Moka say his name behind him, doubtlessly echoing his own question. He shrugged slightly, showing he was unsure himself, and walked to the front of the class.

The man beckoned him out of the classroom, and they began heading towards the Headmaster's office. From the back, the man was completely black; he wore a formal-looking black suit and pants, and similarly colored leather shoes that clicked with each step on the tile floors. The man's black hair was just shoulder-length, covering up any of his skin you might have been able to see.

"Um, sir…?" Tsukune started, looking up at the man. He did not respond, but turned slightly to show he was listening. "Do you know what the Headmaster wants?"

The man turned back to looking ahead and replied, "I will explain once we are there." His voice was…calm, emotionless, for lack of any better terms. It had a professional sound to it, matching his appearance.

Tsukune gulped, choosing not to push the issue. "Yes, sir."

"Arikado," the man supplied. "Arikado Genya."

The rest of the walk was a silent one. Arikado did not speak, and Tsukune didn't really want to ask any more questions.

The twin doors to the Headmaster's office soon loomed before them, and Arikado pushed them open, stepping into the dark study. Tsukune expected to see the Headmaster sitting behind his desk, grinning his eerie grin, but interesting (and perhaps disturbingly) the chair was empty. A glow was coming from the corner of the room, where a portal Tsukune recognized lay.

_That's the portal the Headmaster made before…to Paradise._ He thought to himself. _What's going on…?_

"Follow me," said Arikado, not hesitating at all. He stepped into the portal and Tsukune nervously followed, becoming less certain of Arikado's plans by the moment. He had said that the Headmaster wanted to see him, but why would he be in Paradise instead of his office?

Arikado turned to face Tsukune as he stepped further into Paradise, and looked questioningly up at him. Arikado's eyes were closed with concentration.

There was a flash, and Tsukune realized why too late; Arikado had closed the portal behind them! What was he doing? Did Arikado or the Headmaster have some sort of plan they needed him for?

These questions and others went through Tsukune's head as he followed Arikado, who had resumed moving purposefully along the grassy hills. Tsukune glanced backwards, but all he saw was empty fields. Gulping nervously, he turned again to see they were approaching a small house in the middle of the field.

Outside, lounging in a chair was a white-haired youth who looked to be around Tsukune's age. He was wearing a white coat with fur lining the collar, which contrasted with the black shirt and blue jeans he wore under it. As Tsukune and Arikado approached, he looked up.

"Hey Arikado, you're back." His gaze shifted to Tsukune. "So you're Tsukune."

Arikado walked up to the side of the building and crossing his arms, leaving Tsukune standing oddly in front of the two. As Tsukune considered what to do, the white-haired boy got up and walked up to him.

"I'm Kurusu Soma. Nice to meet you." He bowed politely to Tsukune, who nervously returned the greeting before he turned to face Arikado.

"Um, Arikado…" Arikado looked up. "Is the Headmaster coming…?" Tsukune asked.

Arikado looked down again for a moment before replying, "No, he is not."

Tsukune's eyes widened in surprise slightly before he asked the obvious question: "Then what's going on?"

"Well, it's simple. We're going to take over this school," Soma said. Arikado looked at him with narrowed eyes, but added nothing.

Tsukune didn't have any immediate response to this, and was quite unsure how he should respond. Should he run and try to get help, or stay and possibly hinder them in some other way? He didn't think he could fight both of them at once, and didn't really want to try regardless.

As Tsukune stood there looking surprised, Soma resumed sitting in his chair and cast a glance at Arikado, who did not return it.

"Why would you want to do that?" Tsukune asked finally, trying to understand their motivation. After all, don't people who are trying to take over usually either sneak in quietly or boldly announce their presence and intent to everyone, right? These two had done neither, simply taking Tsukune and possibly the Headmaster as well.

The thought made Tsukune shiver. If Arikado and Soma were powerful enough to defeat the Headmaster, what could anyone else hope to do?

Soma opened his mouth as if to respond to Tsukune's question, but Arikado started talking first. "You don't need to know our reasons." Tsukune thought for a moment again, trying to figure out what he should do.

"Why me?" he asked, shifting his gaze between the two. "Why am I so important?"

Arikado looked up at him, looking impatient if anything. "There is no reason for me to tell you that." It seemed that Arikado was wary of giving him any details about their plan, which gave Tsukune only a few options: fight them, try to escape, or wait quietly. As for the first two, Tsukune had little confidence in his own ability, especially when taking on two opponents, and trying to escape would probably just provoke them.

Resigning himself, Tsukune sat down in the grass, simply waiting for whatever Arikado and Soma were waiting for. He wondered what it could be; he knew that Moka and the others would come for him eventually, which left him to hope they would make it before Arikado and Soma's plans could progress any further.

Surprisingly, Tsukune did not have to wait long, because within a few minutes at most, Moka, Kurumu, and Mizore came marching across the grassy plains towards him. Tsukune did not see Yukari or Ruby with them; he wondered if they had to open a portal into Paradise for the others. With the Headmaster gone, he couldn't think of any other way.

Standing quickly, Tsukune noticed Kurumu was carrying the magic whip Belmont. That at least gave him some relief; he wouldn't need to find a way to remove Moka's rosary in the inevitable fight.

As his friends approached closely, Moka shouted to him, "Tsukune!"

"Moka!" he shouted back, starting forward but Arikado was at his side, his arm in front of Tsukune. Of course he wasn't simply going to let Tsukune reunite with them.

"So it is you," said Arikado as the group stopped a distance in front, not yet making a move to attack.

"Let Tsukune go now!" Kurumu demanded, gripping the whip tightly in both hands.

"Or we'll make you regret it," added Mizore, her typical calm voice hiding the reality of the threat.

"So eager to fight…" remarked Arikado, speaking as if he had nothing to worry about. "So be it."

"As much I'd like to take you idiots out myself," Kurumu said, glaring at Soma and Arikado, "It wouldn't be the same fighting without Moka." The succubus held the whip out to Moka, and the two nodded at each other.

The pink-haired girl took the whip in her hand, and the ensuing flash of energy blinded Tsukune. He held his arms up in front of his eyes and steadied himself against the artificial wind that accompanied Moka's transformation.

When the dust cleared, Tsukune looked up and saw silver-haired Inner Moka with the whip tied around her leg, staring coldly and Arikado and Soma.

Somewhat oddly, they didn't seem surprised by Inner Moka's appearance at all. This worried him. How much did they know?

"You've lost your chance to give up," Moka said to Tsukune's captors, her icy voice carrying as much venom as her equally cold stare.

Arikado turned to Soma. "Take the succubus and the Snow Maiden. I'll handle the vampire." Soma nodded his assent and the two stepped apart, giving each other some space to fight in, but not so much as to make Tsukune think he could dash to safety.

"He shouldn't be a problem," said Mizore as she looked over Soma. "Two on one hardly seems fair."

"Kidnapping Tsukune isn't fair!" retorted Kurumu as she extended her claws and pulled out her wings, speeding towards Soma. He rolled away at the last second, and threw a spear at the succubus, who managed to swerve to avoid it.

_Wait, a spear?_ Tsukune thought to himself, surprised. _Where did he…?_

Immediately after, Mizore threw a set of ice kunai toward the white-cloaked boy. Before they could hit, a cloak of tumbling fire flared up, melting them instantly.

Meanwhile, Arikado and Moka were facing each other on Tsukune's other side.

"Hmph. You think you can think you can fight me alone, _half-breed_?" Moka said to Arikado. Tsukune gasped inwardly at this; Arikado was a half-vampire? Before anything else could be said, she leapt towards Arikado, presumably intending to end the fight in one blow. "Know your place!"

Moka's signature kick connected with Arikado's head, and he was sent flying backwards, crashing through the wall of the building behind Tsukune. He turned and stared at the hole in the wall, wondering if Moka had really just taken out Arikado that easily.

"Hmph. You overestimate your strength," said Moka condescendingly as she landed on the grass.

Mizore, who had been staying out of melee range of Soma, commented, "I guess we should have expected as much from Moka."

Any further praise was interrupted by Arikado stepping calmly out of the rubble, his suit dusty but otherwise barely worse for the wear. His appearance caused even Moka to gasp slightly; few, if any, had been able to take Inner Moka's kick head-on and stand up afterward.

"Shall we?" Arikado said simply, before drawing his arm backwards. A red aura flared to life around him. He thrust him arm out, and with a shout of, "Hellfire!" a trio of yellow fireballs sprung forth, heading directly for Moka.

Moka evaded them easily, but in that time Arikado had closed the distance between them and was preparing his own kick attack, aimed toward her midsection. The vampire dodged backwards, avoiding the blow and moving to counter with a knife-hand strike at Arikado's throat.

Arikado, however, saw the attack coming and leaned out of the way, moving quickly to grab Moka's arm and use her momentum to throw her past him, exposing her back. Thinking quickly, Moka planted her front foot into the ground and used her youki to reverse her velocity, spinning and trying to deliver a chop to Arikado before he could attack himself.

Arikado quickly set himself in a high guard, taking the blow to his forearm, the force of the attack sending him skidding back several feet.

On the other side of the field, Soma launched several fireballs towards Mizore and Kurumu as he backed up, creating space between himself and the two girls. Before he could move too far away, however, Mizore put her hands to the ground, forming a large ice wall behind and to the sides of him.

"Now!" Mizore shouted to Kurumu, who began dashing towards Soma. He might have been able to climb over the walls, had he had time, but considering the circumstances, that wasn't really an option.

Kurumu was closing the distance quickly, but Soma had an epiphany and produced a human-sized puppet from a puff of smoke. Kurumu paused for a fraction of a second, but continued on full-speed, not seeing what he could hope to accomplish with a puppet in the remaining seconds before she reached him.

Tossing the puppet cleanly over the wall, Soma flattened himself against the wall and stared straight at the succubus.

"You. Are. Dead!" Kurumu emphasized each word as she pulled back her arm, preparing to run the boy through. Thrusting forward, she felt her claws pierce through him and collide with the ice behind him. Her triumphant feeling was cut short as she realized she had stabbed nothing but a puppet; the same puppet that Soma had been holding earlier. It vanished in a purple puff of smoke, and she turned to see Soma standing on the other side of the ice wall.

"That was close," he sighed, which only served to anger the succubus. Mizore removed the ice wall and Kurumu immediately charged the white-clad boy, who barely managed to duck her swipe before sliding back out of range to avoid another.

As Kurumu stepped forward quickly to attack again, Soma brought his arms up to defend himself. Knowing her claws would make quick work of the white tailcoat he was wearing, she did not even bother to stop her attack. Surprisingly, however, just as the attack connected with Soma, a gray haze surrounded the point of impact, preventing it from actually hitting him. The force, however, did impact him, and he was sent flying backwards, nearly hitting Arikado, who was preparing a spell.

Mizore summoned a created a small group of icicles in the air, and with a flick of her wrist sent them spiraling towards Soma. The boy managed to dodge them, but that left Arikado standing in their path.

Strangely, as soon as the ice hit him, Arikado's body seemed to fade away, becoming a colorless fog. A moment later, the fog reformed into Arikado.

"What the…?" Kurumu stopped in surprise.

"Look out!" Kurumu heard Mizore shout behind her, and she turned just barely in time to dodge a large ball of dark energy that had nearly hit her. She heard Mizore summon more ice and a launch it towards Soma, only to see him summon his own icicles which meet Mizore's mid-flight.

"What kind of Youkai are you?" The succubus demanded in confusion. She had never seen someone with such a variety of skills before.

"I'm human," he said simply, staring at Kurumu and Mizore, who had moved up beside the succubus.

Tsukune's eyes widened in surprise as Soma spoke. There was no way… An ordinary human couldn't do anything like Soma, so there had to be something else.

"I don't believe it," said Kurumu in disbelief. "If you're human, how can you…?"

"Soma!" Arikado shouted from across the field. He ducked an attack from Moka and stepped backwards. "Stay focused!"

Moka stepped forwards, closing the distance, then threw a knife hand strike at Arikado's chest. He twisted out the way, and then leapt into the air as the vampire began a trip attempt. Moka smirked as she stopped the attack; it had been a feint. Arikado's eyes narrowed for half a second as he realized his mistake, but before Moka could attack him his form wavered and shifted, transforming into a large black bat. It flew up and out of her range before returning to the ground and reforming into Arikado.

Moka's smirk had turned to a frown as she stared at the dhampir.

"You must have no pride, half-breed, to use the transformation arts," she said coldly.

"Pride has nothing to do with it," Arikado replied, returning her stare. "Would you have preferred I had held back?"

"You are _below_ me! I will show you your place!" The vampire leapt towards him, readying another powerful kick. Arikado made no move to dodge, simply setting himself into a guard stance and awaiting the blow.

"Soma!" he shouted. "Get ready!" In response, the white-haired boy produced a gigantic axe from his coat, easily three stories tall, and swung it effortless around him. It did not hit Kurumu or Mizore, but it did create a sizeable amount of space around him.

Moka's kick collided with Arikado's defense, and the force sent him sliding along the ground, his boots kicking up dirt and leaving an obvious trail of flattened grass and turned up earth.

Arikado looked to his partner. "Are you ready?" In this time, Moka began running towards Arikado, while Kurumu and Mizore went for Soma from the other side.

Soma nodded to Arikado, and together the two of them began gathering energy. Red, fiery auras surrounded the two of them and a spell glyph colored the grass at their feet.

Tsukune, who had since been watching from the relative security of around the nearby building's corner, saw the obvious trap that Arikado and Soma were preparing.

"Moka, Kurumu, Mizore! Look out!" Tsukune shouted as loud as he could, but it was too late. His warning went unheeded as the girls were too far into their charge to care for dodging.

Once their three opponents were within several feet, both Arikado and Soma thrust their arms forward, shouting loudly, "BLOODY CROSS!"

In an instant, a black cross appeared in the ground, surrounded by a fiery red aura. The ground shook loudly as pieces of earth were torn up by its power. The ensuing explosion of energy nearly knocked Tsukune off his feet, forcing him to hold his arms in front of his face to shield it from the powerful wind. When the wind finally ceased, Tsukune let his arms fall to his sides, staring ahead towards the cloud of dirt and smoke where his friends had been.

He started forward, his concern now overriding his care for his own safety.

"Moka! Kurumu! Mizore!" Tsukune shouted as he hurried forward into the cloud. The area hit by the attack had completely destroyed the grass, burning it to nothing and charred the ground.

The smoke cleared, and Tsukune was immensely relieved, though still worried, to see his friends battered, but still alive.

Only Moka still stood, but it was clear the attack had injured her. Both Kurumu and Mizore were on their knees, breathing heavily and clutching their own wounds. Soma, too, was on his knees, though from exhaustion rather than any injury. Arikado stood straight, his hair and suit slightly disheveled but he looked otherwise fine.

"Stay back!" Moka commanded Tsukune, who stopped despite himself.

"You're hurt!" he shouted back, not understanding how she could expect him to just stay where he was. Arikado stepped forward, and Tsukune decided that enough was enough. He ran for towards Arikado and Soma, who stood at the center of the area, and addressed them.

"No more! If you want to keep fighting, fight…" Tsukune paused, hesitant, but only for a moment. "Fight me!" It was clear he was resolute.

"Tsukune?" Three startled cries came from the others. Grimly, Tsukune considered how funny it was that they didn't expect this from him.

There was a long silence as no one did anything; not even Moka or Arikado.

"Heh." Soma chuckled as he rose to his standing position. Arikado looked off into the distance as if considering something, before he turned back to Tsukune.

"Very well." This confused Tsukune. What did Arikado mean? "I've seen enough."

At this, a very familiar creepy laugh sounded behind the group. The four turned to face it, and were surprised to see the Headmaster standing before them.

"What do you think, Arikado?" The Headmaster asked, grinning, as he always did, at the dhampir.

"I would like to keep my evaluations private for now," Arikado replied simply. The Headmaster merely chuckled again. Tsukune, at this point, was stunned into silence as to what was going on. It seemed that the Headmaster was at least acquainted with Arikado and probably Soma as well.

Moka, on the other hand, was not silent at all. "Explain," she demanded, sounding (at least to Tsukune) forceful despite her wounds.

The Headmaster looked to Arikado, who took this as meaning the Headmaster wasn't going to.

"I am Arikado Genya," he began, looking directly at Tsukune and the others. "I work for the Japanese government researching…paranormal activity." He seemed to have been considering how to describe his work. "Kurusu Soma," he gestured to Soma, "is a colleague, of sorts." Soma rolled his eyes at that remark, and Tsukune wondered exactly what the pair's relationship was.

"Put simply, I was here to evaluate possible candidates to be invited to join in the future." Arikado's gaze passed over each of them in turn.

"That is putting it simply," said Mizore, noting how vague Arikado's explanation managed to be.

"So you're saying this was all just a **waste of time**?" Moka asked, looking rather angry. "Of all the…" The vampire started to walk off before realizing that walking off didn't exactly work in Paradise, as there was nowhere to go. There was another convenient option for her, however. She reached down to the whip still tied to her leg and began tugging at it…to no avail.

Several seconds passed before she shouted, frustrated, "Tsukune! Get over here and help me!" It took Tsukune a few seconds to realize she was asking for his help in removing the whip. When he did, he blushed very obviously.

"Wh-what? I can't do that…!" he stammered. It's a pity Gin was not around; he probably would have _volunteered_.

"You can, and you will!" Moka said, turning to face the boy. "_Now_." Tsukune, seeing no other choice, slowly made his way to the vampire.

The Headmaster grinned very widely at this turn of events, and Soma could not help but do so as well. Arikado simply shook his head slowly, his hand up against it in exasperation.

Tsukune gingerly grabbed at the knot in the whip, trying pull it apart while avoiding actually touching Moka. Eventually, he was able to untie it and he sighed with relief as it fell to the ground.

Unfortunately, he forgot that Moka's transformation back to her sealed self tended to be followed by unconsciousness, and was knocked to the ground when the now pink-haired girl collapsed on top of him. Needless to say, about half of the witnesses to the event were very amused, the other half were jealous, and the odd one out was just sitting there pretending it wasn't happening.

Before Tsukune could scramble out from under her, Moka's eyes fluttered open and she stared distantly at him. "Tsu…ku…ne…?" Each syllable of his name fell off her tongue dreamily.

"M-Moka, I…!" Before Tsukune could get very far saying whatever he planned to say, he received a bite to the neck, silencing him.

"Didn't expect that…" mumbled Soma as he continued to watch the scene unfold. "Do vampires not kiss the people they like, or what, Arikado?" Soma turned to look at the man beside him, only to realize he wasn't there.

"Um, Arikado…?" Soma looked left and right, but saw no trace of either the Headmaster or Arikado anywhere. They had apparently just vanished while everyone was distracted. Realizing this, Soma looked at the girls and Tsukune and decided he ought to make his escape as well. Slowing stepping away, he walked off, heading around the building, hoping that Kurumu and Mizore wouldn't say anything to him. Unfortunately that was not to be.

"Hey!" called Kurumu, who had managed to stand despite her injuries.

Soma thought he was going have a problem before he realized he could escape rather easily; making hasty goodbye for appearances if nothing else, he seized the power of the Black Panther soul and dashed off into the distance.

* * *

"You see?" the Headmaster said to Arikado, grinning creepily as he always did.

"Yes," Arikado replied, actually answering the question. "Continue to take care of the Vampire Killer. I will return at a later date."

The Headmaster chuckled. "I will look forward to it, Arikado."

* * *

_There you have it, the revised version. I think it is definitely improved, but I'm sure there are things that I could do better._

_Specifically, I added the scene involving Arikado, Soma, and the Headmaster to hopefully explain the point of everything in better detail. I removed/reworked a couple of Soma's lines because, in retrospect, he was a bit OOC._

_I extended the fight a bit, and hope it doesn't sound forced. I suppose I could have left it the way it was, but felt like making it a bit more interesting for my two reviewers and everyone else who read the story._

_By the way, all of you who didn't review last time…please do so. Constructive criticism is something I'd love to get, but even simply stating your overall opinion would make me happy. Pointing out any plot mistakes you find (I hope there aren't any) could be nice as well so I can fix them. *chuckles nervously*_


End file.
